According to many recovering from substance abuse, there’s a silver lining in any situation, and 449 Recovery is awaiting the annual influx of new patients into it’s drug rehab program that routinely happens during this time of year. Today is National Marijuana Day, and while a lot of people see this as a day to advocate legalization of marijuana and celebrating the act of getting high, those who threw out their bongs and pipes long ago have noticed a trend. That trend is the beginning of a sort of rush season for various drug and alcohol treatment groups.
“It takes what it takes to get into treatment,” said 449 Recovery Founder and CEO Rodney Robinson. “On days like 4:20, the Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, and others, people tend to overshoot the limit of social drinking and using. For some people, when they overshoot the mark, that also means they suffer what both local drug rehab centers and national centers alike refer to as, ‘pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization.’ This can often be the catalyst that motivates people to find recovery. When a day of celebration turns into a 5 day haze of substance abuse, many find the door open towards drug and alcohol treatment.”
Probably not coincidentally, the origins of how this icon of modern counterculture came into being is mired in obscurity. It seems as though many have heard different stories, rumors, and urban legends. However, many agree that this phenomena, which has been the cause of many California drug rehab intakes, actually began in the Golden State during the 1960’s or -70’s with a group of teenagers who would meet at 4:20 to find or smoke marijuana. The Grateful Dead eventually adopted the term, and the rest is smoke-obscured history. Both that history is not lost on the 449Recovery drug and alcohol treatment center.
Marijuana has enjoyed a fun-loving, relaxed reputation free of some of the more immediate dangers of drug abuse, but just like the origins of the day’s celebratory nature, the long term effects are also intertwined with misconceptions and myths, and some may need the services of a drug rehab to recover. There are no risks of fatal overdose, as is the case with opiate addiction, but rates of those in drug and alcohol treatment centers for marijuana exclusively are higher than many would expect. Additionally, marijuana does carry a higher risk of cancer, with at least 22 more carcinogens than tobacco smoke. Further, for those who begin smoking marijuana at a younger age, there is a high susceptibility to emotionally and developmentally stunted growth which can also impair long-term brain function after prolonged use. This factor is one of the downsides of frequent Marijuana use and one of many challenges met head on by drug and alcohol treatment centers.
Nevertheless, valid arguments exist for its use in certain medical circumstances, but many advocates support using the drug for any ailment, large or small. While a cancer patient may need marijuana to improve his or her appetite during chemotherapy, ailments such as anxiety and headaches have a multitude of outlets, some of which are over-the-counter solutions, making the issue of medical marijuana such a contentious issue for some. The consequences for things like pain pill addiction are severe, but that does not mean that other solutions are necessarily safe alternatives nor imply those who use daily are in need of drug and alcohol treatment.
“To see the day celebrated as a day or freedom and used to discuss the war on drugs and drug law is valid. But many miss the underlying theme. While marijuana is certainly the lesser of evils for drug abuse and drug addiction, it still carries consequences and for some, those consequences end in drug and alcohol treatment,” Robinson said. “It would be naive for us to celebrate the day of 420 without also mentioning the cycle of drug addiction.”
For More Information about 449Recovery and Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Drug Rehab visit www dot 449Recovery dot org or call 855-449-4490
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